Archive for April 2013

Damn, it’s 2:11 am. My mind drifted back to the old “Adam-12” TV series and its police radio dispatches, “One Adam 12, One Adam 12, 2-11 in progress. One Adam Twelve, handle Code 2”.

Who would be calling me at this hour, again.

“Dad?”

Uh oh, this can’t be good.

“Dad, are you there?! Can you hear me?! Are you there?!” The voice was female and frantic.

“Yeah, I’m here. What’s going on?” I was slowly coming out of my sleepy stupor. My daughter doesn’t call me often at 2:11 in the morning; in fact, she never calls me at this time.

“I need help! Someone’s after me and I don’t know what to do!”

Now, I was fully awake!

“Ok, where are you?”, I asked, hoping that if I could get her to concentrate on something, anything, it would help her calm down.

“I’m in the car. I left the bar after work and someone’s been following me ever since. I sped up, slowed down, turned down side streets and the car is still following me! I don’t know what to do!”

She was panicking at this point. A bunch of questions ran through my mind but now was not the time to ask them. But why was she at a bar so late at night? Who’s car was she driving? She didn’t have a car.

“I’m turning down your street, come outside!”

I jumped out of bed, pulled on my scrub pants and headed for the front door. The early morning air was chilly against my bare chest as I opened the door and stepped outside but there was no time to find a t-shirt to wear. My cell phone was in my left hand and my .40-caliber handgun was in my right; I wasn’t taking any chances with whomever was following my daughter.

“OK, I’m in your driveway! Where are you?! He’s pulling up behind me!”

“Michelle, there’s no car in my driveway. Where are you?”

Now I was starting to get a bit nervous.

The female voice on the phone was now frantic AND confused.

“Dan, what are talking about? I’m sitting in your driveway and that car is right behind me?!”

I was now very worried for this girl, “Honey, I don’t know who you are but you’ve dialed the wrong number. You need to get someplace safe and call the police.”

The girl on the other end of the phone was now crying.

“I can’t get out of here, he’s got me blocked in. Oh my God, he’s coming up to the car!”

The sound of breaking glass and the girl’s ear-piercing scream were the last sounds I heard before the phone call dropped.